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November 12, 2010

Spin Cycle: Seeking perfection and finding compromise.

Tomorrow is Sprite's birthday. This Spin isn't about that. Oh, no. The B word has become its own swirling vortex of tantrums and requests and pleading and screaming and that's just me. Let's not go into Sprite's side. Yet.

I've been thinking all week about perfection and how I would approach it, each Spin falling flat before it ever left my thoughts. I was distracted by Sprite's birthday, and more, the cupcakes I would need to bring for her classmates today. I kept considering the amount of time I had left before last night, to plan, when I would have to tether myself to the oven and turn out bakery gold.

I should just buy cupcakes, you say?

Nope. I was going to make them from scratch. And they were going to be perfect.

I had offered to do this, for Sprite and for her friend Samantha, who shares her birthday. Both girls love pink and vanilla. How perfect could that be? A couple dozen cupcakes, done in an hour, whip up some pink frosting, (Buy a tub of ready-spread, you say? Nay nay!) (Yeah, yeah..) pipe it on, and done! Thirty-three perfect cupcakes for 2 birthday girls to share with their friends.

Thirty-three.

The recipe yielded 24. I would have to make a double batch. It would take double the time.

Crap.

No. I could do this and still have Sprite in bed by 8.

Getting the supplies out, I noticed for the first time, despite having read it several times before, that the paper called for regular flour AND self-rising flour.

I didn't have self-rising flour.

Crap.

(I totally Googled the question "What if you don't have self-rising flour?" And it totally gave me the answer! Perfect!)

Measuring out everything, I brought out Ruby and mixed up a thick batter of sweet promise. Once they were in the oven, I set about measuring for a second bowl of batter, realizing as I went that I had mis-measured and left out a half cup of flour in the first go round.

Crap.

Oh, how much of a difference would a half cup of flour make anyway?

Apparently, it makes a difference.

Once the second set was done, I compared a perfect recipe with the, um, lighter version? Actually, no. It turns out when you go a half cup lighter, it makes the cupcake heavier, turning the treats into more of a muffin. So I now had 24 muffins and 24 cupcakes.

Crap.

Should I make another batch? I was out of milk, down to a cup or less of flour, a dash of sugar, and no patience. (And it turns out patience is a big ingredient in baking..) The duds would have to do. I set to work with decorating.

At 9:30, John walked through the door, tired from his own long day, to see me standing before my mixer, clouds of confectioners sugar suspended over my head and every other surface, and Sprite quietly trying to sneak another half hour of Wonder Pets by shrugging down into the couch so as to escape attention.

The kitchen was a mess, the cupcakes had just been finished, three hours after I started, Sprite's bath hadn't even been thought of, and I still had not begun my Spin.

All the planning and the timing and the execution added up to me recruiting an exhausted John to help me get the kid ready for bed, a kid who didn't want to go to bed, most likely because of the contact high everyone was getting from just breathing in the sweet air.

I still love to bake. I still love to try my hand at perfection. But sometimes, I need to step back and let someone else make it perfect. Then if things go wrong, I can just blame it on them, because if I were to make them, they would have been perfect.

Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away so this topic is perfect (Hey! Look at that! Something DID turn out perfectly!) for getting us all in the mood for seeing family, taking a day or two out of the hustle and bustle of life, and just enjoying who you're with.

If you've been watching and waiting for a Spin topic to come about that would suit you, this may be the one to weigh in on. This will be the last Spin for a while.

I will get into the background of it a little later, but the Spin Cycle is going down for now.

So get your gratitude ready and serve it up by next Friday to be in on the last Spin!

I loved the image you painted of your cupcake making finesse - I was sort of in the same conundrum yesterday, since they're celebrating Princess Nagger's birthday in her class today (another girl has the same birthday on Monday, so SHE got the actual day for her celebration...darn Alphabet!) Though I was lucky - there are only 24 kids in PN's class...and I sort of accidentally forgot on purpose she wanted to bring a cupcake for her regular teacher and gifted teacher...I didn't want to have to make two batches just to make sure there were 26. ;)

Happy (early) Birthday to Sprite!! I'm looking forward to reading about all the fun! :)

It's not about perfection, it's about knowing what you put into your kid's mouth (and her friend's mouth). Bravo for not going out and buying a cake mix and canned frosting!!! When she's old and doesn't have extra limbs growing out of her, she'll thank her mother for sacrificing her sanity and actually making the food she ate.

And in the future, make both batches at the same time, in the same bowl, and save yourself a lot of time. And for 33, I would make one full batch and cut the recipe in half for the 2nd so you don't have 48 in the end.

And can a kid really tell the difference between a cupcake and a muffin if it's wrapped in homemade frosting? I think not.

I knew it was coming and what a good topic to end on.
At least you tried to make all those cupcakes. You put more effort into it, than a lot of parents even think about. I knew I wouldn't have the time, so I opted for buying. MJ wanted muffins for class instead of cupcakes, so it worked out.
Remember, those kids that are going to eat those cupcakes/muffins, only want the sugar that is laced into and on that sweet treat - they really don't care about the looks or the taste. You should only worry about...are they edible?

I know my spinning has been sporadic these last months, but some of my favorite posts came out of your spin cycles. Sniff. Plus a lot of my blogging buds I met over here. I think you are the glue that holds us together Jen....

On another note, I love people that bake from scratch. I can cook, but basking is a bit of a crap shoot for me. I can, however, so a great job of eating bake goods ; -)